Get This Kind of Rush
by ournoisyhearts
Summary: In which Sebastian is kind of an asshole, and Nick throws things. Their friendship is complicated. Nickbastian.


"He's staring again."

"Shut up," Nick grumbles, and when his friend raises an eyebrow pointedly, he immediately scowls and pushes on Sebastian's shoulder. "Seriously, quit it!"

"Aw, Duval, you're so cute when you're mad." Sebastian's eyelashes flutter, and he looks absolutely _ridiculous_, and if the smug look on his face is any indication, Nick knows he must be as red as a tomato.

It's not like he can help it.

"You are the worst," he declares, picking up his lunch tray and moving to slide away from the table when a firm hand stops him. Nick peers downwards again to find Sebastian laughing silently at him, but his eyes convey an apology, and he begrudgingly drops back into his chair with a barely-muffled sigh.

This is normal for them. Sebastian is generally douchey, Nick is offended, Sebastian feels no remorse, Nick mopes, and then all is well again. It's a repeating cycle, one that Nick can't exactly remember getting caught up in, but he and Sebastian are at least supposed friends now, so he guesses he doesn't mind.

That doesn't make the boy any less of an asshole.

"I'm the best and you know it," Sebastian retorts, snatching a potato chip off of Nick's plate and popping it into his mouth. He makes obnoxiously loud crunching noises as he chews, and Nick twists his own face in disgust, which earns him a crumb-smeared grin from Sebastian. "Really, though, Nicholas, that boy is starting to border on actual stalker, and it's sort of creepy. Adorable, but creepy."

"He's not stalking me," Nick hisses back, "and lower your voice, would you? We don't need him to overhear your _insulting_ him."

Sebastian has the decency to look put out, and he goes on to throw a stray chip at Nick's head. "I wasn't insulting him. No need to get all defensive."

"Everything you _say _is insulting, Sebastian."

"I'm naturally clever," Sebastian says airily, and Nick just stares.

"More like naturally offensive."

"Duval, you love me."

"Does that mean it's justified if I shove this apple down your throat to get you to shut up?"

"I can think of some other alternatives besides an apple," Sebastian replies with a lewd grin, and Nick drops his forehead to the table in exasperation.

"Oh my _god,_ Sebastian."

"Yeah, I'd have you saying that." Nick lifts his head to shoot his friend a fierce glare, while Sebastian continues to chew innocently, smiling across the table around a mouthful of sandwich.

"So anyway," he continues after a moment, swallowing the food in his mouth and pointing a finger at Nick, "I think you should go talk to him."

"Or he could talk to me, considering he's the one who's been following me around for a month," Nick suggests.

Sebastian's blank glance causes him to roll his eyes.

"He can't be older than a freshman, Bas," Nick exclaims. "I'm not you. I won't go hit on some random underclassmen."

"But they're so much fun to corrupt," Sebastian responds, prompting Nick to shake his head.

"_No,_ Sebastian."

"You're using my full name a lot today. Is this a fetish I should be aware of?"

"Sebastian!"

"You make suggestive comments that much better, I swear."

"I will not hesitate to hit you."

"Well, if you're into that sort of thing-"

Nick finally gives in and chucks his apple core at Sebastian's head.

* * *

So, yes, Nick might have a bit of a stalker.

He first noticed a couple of weeks ago, when he was heading back to his dorm room after a Warblers rehearsal, and he realized that there was a boy loitering aimlessly outside the common room. His dark hair was ruffled and fell into his eyes, and his cheeks were dotted with freckles, and he was short even in comparison to Nick, who boasted a mere five feet eight inches. The boy's skinny frame was dwarfed by a Dalton blazer, and the knot of his tie was crooked. Nick hadn't taken much thought after that first sighting; that was, until a week later, when he'd realized that he'd started to see the boy literally _everywhere_, from the hallways between classes to the courtyard on weekends when the weather was kind enough to allow him to work on his homework outside.

Then Sebastian had picked up on the boy's presence, and it was all downhill from there.

"He's even smaller than you," his friend had wondered aloud, and Nick had squawked indignantly before smacking Sebastian's arm with his chemistry textbook.

"I am not that small!" Nick protested, and Sebastian had just gazed over at him in sympathy.

"Delusional, too," he remarked.

"I swear to god, Smythe-"

"He's cute, though. In a naive, untainted way, of course." Sebastian went on as if Nick hadn't even spoken, his eyes casually observing the boy on the opposite side of the library. "Do you know his name?"

"Why would I know his name? And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you," Nick huffed, and Sebastian clutched his chest in mock outrage.

"I'm hurt! Don't you trust me?"

"Not a bit," Nick stated.

And Sebastian went on to make discussion of Nick's random follower his new favorite pastime (although it really just fell under the category of "getting on Nick's nerves," which was obviously his number one hobby).

On one particularly uneventful Thursday afternoon, Sebastian had taken it upon himself to further said Nick/stalker relations.

"His name is Jeremy. You're welcome!"

Nick had jerked his head up from his laptop and narrowed his eyes at his roommate as he waltzed through the door, offering Nick a bright grin while depositing his lacrosse bag onto his bed. His hair was matted to his forehead with sweat, and he was very inelegantly smelling his own armpits and grimacing in reaction, and Nick had to resist the urge to hurl his pencil at Sebastian's head.

Throwing things was a common reoccurrence in their relationship.

"How'd you find out?" Nick asked begrudgingly, just before Sebastian's dirty t-shirt landed on top of his head and suddenly began to suffocate him with its stench.

"He was at tryouts today," Sebastain replied absently, while Nick shook off the offending garment and tried to cough the foul taste of sweaty clothing from his mouth. His choking went unnoticed by Sebastian, who was now rifling through his closet for a fresh shirt and still rambling on about Nick's stalker (whose name was Jeremy, apparently).

"The kid wasn't half bad, I have to say. Most freshman don't even know how to handle a stick, much less run with one, but he seemed to have some semblance of an idea what he was doing. I'm impressed."

"And I care...why?" Nick inquired slowly.

"Well, he probably knows everything about you by now, so it's only fair that you learn a little about him."

"You are way too invested in this," Nick announced.

"I'm just looking out for you, pal," Sebastian's head finally emerged from his closet, a sugary-sweet grin on his face, and Nick managed another expression of disgust.

"I nearly had to eat that filthy gym shirt because of you, _pal,_" he griped, and then the bed was jostling as Sebastian flopped down beside him and let out an undignified huff.

"That's as close to actually being manly as you'll ever get, Duval. Embrace it," he pressed, and Nick found himself lacking the energy to even be insulted.

"Just be nice to that Jeremy kid, alright? He's not doing anything wrong, and I _know_ how you are with freshman."

"Oh, I'll be the _nicest._ Pinky promise," Sebastian replied, and the sickeningly fake grin on his face had been enough to have Nick already quaking with nerves.

Why were they friends again?

* * *

"He was crying, Sebastian!"

"It wasn't my fault!" Sebastian protests, and Nick can't do anything but fold his arms across his chest, his gaze darting over to the now empty doorway that Jeremy-the-stalker had passed through mere seconds before. Nick's brief glance as he bolted past had been long enough to spot the boy's tear streaked face and bloodshot eyes, and the sudden emergence of Sebastian through the same doorway moments later had been enough to grab Nick's suspicion. Now, he has his friend cornered beneath the stairwell, his eyes hard and his face stoic.

"Honestly, Sebastian! I told you not to bother him-"

"Nick, I swear, it's just a coincidence. I wouldn't make the kid cry."

The two of them stare furiously at each other, Sebastian's expression actually bordering on sincere, and Nick finds that the inkling of belief inside his chest is growing. Finally, he sighs deeply, running a hand through his hair and turning away just so Sebastian can't see the guilty look on his face that has risen due to his jumping to conclusions.

"Whatever, Bas. I should go talk to him," Nick mutters, and Sebastian's scoff halts him mid-step.

"And say what? He'll be fine."

"Sebastian," Nick responds lowly.

His friend says nothing after that.

He doesn't know why exactly he's suddenly so worried for Jeremy's well being, but Nick still finds himself heading out into the hall in search of the boy, his eyes scanning the huddles of nameless faces. There is no sign of the dark-haired boy, however, and Nick is close to giving up when he comes across the door to the bathrooms, the distinct sound of sobbing filtering through the wall.

Jackpot.

"Jeremy?" Nick calls out, the door swinging shut behind him. "Are you in here?"

A sniffle. The noises of crying cut off almost immediately, and then a quiet voice speaks. "Who's there?"

Nick stares at the line of stalls, abruptly feeling a sense of awkwardness wash over him. "Um. Nick Duval. I'm a senior?"

An uncomfortably long minute of silence ensues, and Nick finds himself fidgeting nervously as he waits for Jeremy to reply. When he does, his voice is weak, almost disbelieving. "W-what are you doing here?"

"I came to see if you were okay." Nick pauses, and then hesitantly asks, "is there any way you can come out here? I feel really weird just talking to a stall door."

A few seconds later, and the unlatching of the lock echoes audibly through the bathroom before Jeremy emerges. His hair is askew, eyes red and swollen from crying, and his hands are clasped anxiously around his middle, head ducked to avoid Nick's gaze.

"Much better," Nick says gently, and then Jeremy is peering up at him, his eyes almost alarmingly wide in their innocence.

"So, what happened?" He asks carefully.

Jeremy gazes timidly out the window to their left, mumbling, "a few of the guys on the team were being assholes. It's not a big deal."

_A few of the guys on the team._

Nick's jaw clenches.

"What were they doing?"

"Just..." Jeremy rolls his bottom lip into his mouth. Sighs. "They give us freshmen a hard time. It's normal, I get that, but Bastian had to leave early, so Wayne and a couple of the others started calling us names and running us around the field like we were freaking animals or something-"

Wait.

_Bastian?_

"What were they calling you?" Nick hears himself ask, and Jeremy seems to hunch in on himself, his fingers locked in the hem of his blazer.

"I-I was walking off the field afterwards, and a bunch of them were talking about me. Said I was...a fag, and that Bastian, he-"

_Goddamn sonofa..._

"Dalton has a zero-tolerance policy for bullying. You can report them, you know," Nick states, but Jeremy's head snaps up at that, his mouth opening and closing desperately.

"No, no, they'd just find out and it would only get worse- Nick, you can't...please," he begs, and Nick finds himself agreeing despite his knowing better, still unable to wrap his mind around the entire situation. Jeremy, the puny kid who has been following him around for _weeks,_ is apparently friends with Sebastian.

Sorry, _Bastian._

"Jeremy, I won't tell. Not if you don't want me to," he says quietly, and hears the younger boy exhale a long breath of relief. "But that doesn't mean I think they should get away with this. Does Sebastian know?"

"Y-yeah, he stops it most of the time...captain and all," Jeremy murmurs. "Bastian's a good guy. I don't want him to worry about this shit."

"You guys are friends?" Nick blurts, before he can stop himself.

"Kind of?" Jeremy laughs weakly, shaking his head. "I guess Bas is more like a protective older brother than a friend. Not like he is with you."

Nick blinks, and then Jeremy's cheeks are flushing red, the freckles across the bridge of his nose prominent against the coloring. His eyes lift hesitantly, searching out Nick's, whose brows have furrowed in confusion because he literally has no idea what they're even discussing anymore.

"Sorry. He- Bastian, he mentions you a lot. Nick this, Duval that. I didn't mean to start following you guys around so much, but Bas is kind of the only person at this school who's actually tried speaking to me, even though I'm just this skinny freshman, and..."

Jeremy's voice trails off, leaving Nick staring in bewilderment. Sebastian talks about him. Jeremy hadn't really been stalking him at all.

Sebastian talks about him?

"Well, you seem alright for a freshman, so I can't really complain," Nick forces himself to speak, offering Jeremy a half-hearted smile. "And besides, Bas totally basks in the attention. Though, don't tell him I told you that."

And then Jeremy laughs, wiping away a stray bit of moisture from his eyes and quirking his mouth up gratefully.

"I won't. Thanks, Nick. I can kinda see why Bastian never shuts up about you- you're pretty cool."

Nick finds himself grinning sheepishly, though in the back of his mind, all he can think is, _fucking Sebastian._

* * *

"You are a pretentious, lying, _dick,_" Nick announces, casually tossing the extra bottle of Pepsi in his hand at Sebastian's chest as he walks in the door.

Sebastian looks up, bemused, and then focuses his attention on screwing the cap off his bottle so that he can take a long drink. "I am, but what's new?"

Nick huffs, flopping down onto his own bed as he deposits the rest of his food on the nightstand. "Maybe the fact that you've actually been talking to Jeremy the stalker this _entire time_?"

"Oh, that," Sebastian waves his hand vaguely and shrugs, "I told you, the kid wasn't half bad."

"Sebastian," Nick responds, putting enough emphasis on the name that his roommate finally meets his gaze. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because, it's fun to mess with you," Sebastian replies, rolling his eyes. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was getting all buddy-buddy with the freshman. What's the big deal?"

"You were nice to him," Nick deadpans.

Sebastian flashes him a grin.

"Told you, I'm the _nicest_," he sing-songs.

"Fuck off. Seriously. Who are you, and what have you done with Sebastian Smythe?"

"He's unable to come to the phone right now. Leave a message after the beep."

Nick, for once, finds himself struggling to keep a straight face.

His roommate is such an _idiot._

"I could hit you," he states.

"So you've told me. Repeatedly." Sebastian's face is stretched with the widest and smuggest of grins, and Nick is desperately fighting back his own smile in response.

"I guess violence is just in my nature," he adds instead, and Sebastian snorts.

"Please, Duval, you couldn't hurt a fly."

"What? I'm definitely a bad ass," Nick responds petulantly.

Sebastian merely raises a brow. "Keep telling yourself that."

"You're the one who walks around with this ridiculous arrogance and then turns out to be helping a freshman," Nick retorts, "who, by the way, happened to mention that you talk about me. Quite a lot, actually."

He doesn't miss the way Sebastian's eyes widen, just a minuscule bit. "I'm simply assisting the community. And of course I talk about you, Duval. It's because you're a pain in my ass."

Nick hums, noting the way Sebastian's Adam's apple bobs as he swallows almost nervously. "It sounded like Jeremy had gotten quite the impression of me, actually."

Sebastian's jaw twitches. "Oh?"

"Yup," Nick replies, popping the 'p' as casually as he can manage. "He said, and I quote, it's always 'Nick this, Duval that.' I also apparently live up to the hype, which is good, I guess."

"Interesting," Sebastian comments finally, scratching extremely unsubtly at the back of his neck. Nick leans over and grabs the bag of food he'd previously dumped onto his nightstand, rummaging around until he comes across a bag of sour gummy worms and ripping it open. He flicks the torn plastic off to the side and glances over at Sebastian, whose expression is starting more and more resemble that of a deer caught in the headlights. The sight leaves Nick oddly satisfied.

He's having way too much fun with this.

"Care to share why you've _actually_ been raving about me to stalker freshmen?" Nick asks idly, dropping a handful of the gummy worms into his mouth as Sebastian visibly blanches. "The truth would be preferable. As much as I know I annoy you, I'm pretty sure compliments don't come out of pure irritation."

"Has it even crossed your mind that Jeremy might be lying?" Sebastian questions pathetically.

"He's not," Nick shrugs, swallowing the candy in his mouth. "So talk."

"I'd rather not."

Nick levels his roommate with a glare, dropping his bag of candy into his lap. "Sebastian."

"Nicholas," Sebastian parrots.

"Why do you make everything so _difficult_?" Nick grumbles, pushing up to his feet and clutching the package of gummy worms in his hand as he makes his way across the room to hover over Sebastian's seated form. His friend is back to smirking, his gaze far too proud for Nick's liking, and he pats a consoling palm against Nick's stomach before speaking.

"It's a gift, what can I say?" Nick's mouth twists in exasperation at that, and Sebastian continues, "now, if you're going to start smacking me with that bag of gummy worms or something-"

"Shut the fuck _up,_ Bas, I swear," Nick mutters, pushing the candy into Sebastian's hands and silencing his snarky reply with the press of his mouth against the boy's own.

Sebastian sputters indignantly for a moment, then curls his hands in the lapels of Nick's blazer and hauls him in closer without another complaint, and when they part a few moments later, his eyes are wide with wonder.

"You didn't hit me," he wonders aloud, and Nick proceeds to extract himself from his friend's grip before smacking him none too gently upside the head.

* * *

**Horribly self-indulgent Nickbastian, don't mind me. Though if you are, per chance, actually reading this, drop a review and let me know what you think?**


End file.
